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Background to Our Work

Leadership and Continuous Learning We believe that organizations which succeed in tapping the latent learning potential and creative capacity of all employees will discover the surest path to optimal sustainability. Continuous learning is the path to organizational and individual sustainability. The only way to survive and grow (sustainability) in a changing environment is to learn at a rate which is equal to or greater than the rate of change happening around us. Continuous learning is dependent on there being an organizational culture which supports it. This culture is driven by leadership style. Leadership in this context is not hierarchical and starts with us as individuals.

Going beyond what and how Current organizational practices - organizational design, HR systems, training, OD, Business Process re-engineering - are based on a Newtonian view, which regards organizations as "machines", and individuals as parts/cogs within the machine. This view regards organizations ("machines") as linear, multipart, equilibrial and as closed systems. In today's ever changing, fast paced world, where leaders are facing accelerating change at all levels, an opposite mindset has to be developed in learning. Today's organizations are complex, non-linear, non-equilibrial and have to be developed with an open mind-view. Most traditional learning interventions focus on developing knowledge (knowing what) and skills (knowing how). In an organization with a learning type culture, a culture in which learning is sustained, learning interventions need to focus on meaning for the learner ("caring why") and developing a mindset of being mindful ("caring for"). This "caring why" / "caring for" is affected by internal and external influences on individuals. "Meaning" and being "Mindful" comes from within the individual and for this reason we believe that all learning interventions need to be learner-centered.

Integrating Work and Learning A number of change and learning initiatives are not sustainable in organizations. This is due mainly to the lack of integration of these initiatives into the work of the organization. Likewise a number of new processes and technologies do not achieve expected results due to the lack of involvement of people in their design. We believe that this integration is key if we are to have an impact on organizational sustainability. In addition we believe that it is imperative that all learning interventions integrate closely into the work performed by the learners.

Creating a Feedback Culture One of the greatest blocks to learning is the lack of feedback. Both organizations and individuals need feedback if they are to remain conscious of their competence. The intentional process of "confronting with care" is essential to learning and forms an important aspect of our integrated interventions and is built into the learning design.